Lest we forget
by alone on the water
Summary: Sequel to "It's not our fight". Manhattan was no longer the city I grew up in. It was a war zone. In a war like this, there might be victories, but there are no winners. For me, I just lost two of my best friends, dozens of my family members, and my long-time mentor. This is the story of how Panem came to be. This is the story of me, Katniss Everdeen, demigod daughter of Poseidon.
1. Chapter 1 The Point of No Return

**YO, what's up! Pjcrazy the Totally Awesome here! Welcome to a totally **_**new **_**installment of Alone on the Water's story! If you're confused why there is a third story when the second hasn't even been finished yet, I'm here to tell you why. My sister has…uh… hit a wall on the second story. Yup, you got that right. She's stumped. (Sticks out tongue at AOTW, who is fuming quietly in the corner) Lol, I'm chipping in, and we're making progress, but yeah, it's slow, and she decided to go do something else for a while. Y'know, almost 60 percent of everything down there is my work. Update on this story will be slow but steady, as I have my story, and she has stuff of her own. This story will probably hopefully not be put on hiatus.**

**Alone on the water: (glares) you'd better start working faster then.**

**SO anyway, knowledge of the second story is not really needed to understand the third one. If you have read the first, then you can just jump in into this one. You just need to know that Katniss went to Middle Earth, found her little sister Prim and made good friends in Aragorn and Legolas and stayed there for about a year while going on some quests and training for something. We will reveal it very soon.**

**Oh yeah, if you're just here from reading my own story, HELP FROM ANOTHER WORLD, welcome to the new show! I'm exploring an entirely new style of writing here, and I'm enjoying it. I think you will too.**

**Happy reading!**

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I could not believe what I was seeing. This dream must have been tampered somehow. I wanted to scream at Morpheus for messing with my mind, for there was no way in Tartarus this could ever happen. _Not today, not tomorrow, not for the foreseeable future!_ And yet, I remembered my short talk with the god of dreams some time ago, and he solemnly swore on the Styx that he had never, and would never, send a demigod an untrue prophetic dream.

No, no, this is way worse than I thought. This was real. All of it was real. And it was already too late for me to wake up and escape from this nightmare.

_Annabeth and Thalia were talking to an Iris message. On the other side were the fourteen Olympian gods, all in their armored glory. It was obviously a serious war council, for there was not a single trace of the usual godly bickering. "Do you really care about us?" Annabeth screamed angrily, "I, for one, certainly don't see any of that. All you ever do is to have children with mortals, and if they are too powerful, you dispose of them." She turned her steely grey eyes to Athena and spat out bitterly: "Especially you, mother."_

_Athena was trying very hard to think of a proper retort, but Thalia didn't give her the chance to speak. "Do not even try to defend yourself, Athena; your wits won't help you out this time. We were present on the day you sent Katniss away. We heard what you said. You sent Katniss away because you feared her. You are afraid that she could be the child of the prophecy. You could very well have done the same to me if I wasn't a Hunter of Artemis. Am I wrong?" The last sentence wasn't even posed as a question._

_Artemis glared, "Silence, Lieutenant! You do not understand."_

_This time, Annabeth chimed in. "Oh, we understand plenty. We are just your little pawns that you move around the chessboard. We retrieve all the godly stuff that you carelessly misplace; we go on quests to solve conflicts just because you couldn't make nice amongst yourselves; we save the camp on our own because you are all too lazy to lift a finger! Well that's it, I have had enough!"_

_The gods seemed to have been struck dumb. Zeus opened his mouth. "Now wait just a minute, godling!"_

_Thalia interrupted him. "No more, Zeus. No more of your lies. We have seen what you do to those demigods that you fear. Katniss went on all those heroic quests for you. She retrieved your lightning bolt! She saved me! She saved Artemis! And what did you do? You 'sent her away' to who know where just because she would become the demigod of the prophecy! For all we know, that could have just been a cover story! Too bad I couldn't go to Tartarus to check it for myself. Katniss may very well be down there right this moment! Well I have had enough too. I'm done with serving you, all of you. You're just an immortal pain in the ass, a failure in the history of parenting! And oh yeah, how do you deal with those who aren't that powerful? They either get crammed into the Hermes cabin or left on their own out in the wild, becoming easy prey for monsters."_

"_SILENCE!" roared Zeus._

_Thalia ignored him and glared coldly at Artemis. "Artemis, I hereby renounce you as my mistress. I am a huntress no longer. I will turn sixteen in three days time, and I will make the choice." The silver glow that used to surround her body slowly dissipated, and Artemis reeled back as if she had been physically hit._

_Annabeth nodded in approval. "I would curse you, but there isn't a curse in Tartarus strong enough to describe the lot of you." She swiped the message with her hand and cut off the connection._

_Then, as a usual routine in all of my nightmares, the scene changed. This time, I could see two girls kneeling before a golden throne, flanked by two lines of monsters. Luke/Kronos himself lounged on the throne with a satisfied grin._

"_I, Thalia Grace, renounce the gods! What have they ever done for me? I will serve Kronos."_

"_I, Annabeth Chase, too, renounce the gods and turn my back to them. I will serve Kronos."_

"_I knew you two would see sense someday. Welcome to the team, Thalia and Annabeth, it's good to have you back." Kronos smiled triumphantly. "Annabeth, go and help Prometheus in directing the army. We shall crush the rebellion and overthrow the gods once and for all. Thalia, you are free to do as you wish, but why don't you first acquaint yourself with Bessie here..."_

_Annabeth frowned. "Do we really have to crush the demigods? Our fight is against the gods, not our own kind."_

_Kronos' smile just got wider. "They have made their choice. You are of course free to try and persuade them to join our forces, but for the rest, we shall have no choice but to batter then down and show them that resistance is futile. Show then that no hope is left."_

_Annabeth seemed to waver for a moment. "Is this worth it?"_

_Kronos chuckled darkly. "Think of your friend Miss Everdeen. The gods are selfish and ungrateful. They deserve to be destroyed."_

_Annabeth's face grew hard. "You're right. I will do my best."_

I wanted to scream, I wanted to tell Annabeth that I was alive and well, yet my dream self just could not make a sound. The helplessness was so overwhelming that I collapsed to the ground in a heap of sobbing mess. _Was there really nothing I could do to stop it?_

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The final part of the heart-shattering message came a few days later in the form of an Iris Message. In fact the message appeared so suddenly that I almost choked on my breakfast.

_The war had already started._

_Lines of demigods charged against legions of monsters. Thalia was in the lead. She went head to head with Clarisse, the new leader of Camp Half-Blood, and blasted her with a massive bolt of lightning that sent her flying back into a nearby concrete wall. Flying monsters soared all over the city, grabbing unfortunate demigods in their talons and dropping them from a height. _The scene was so similar to the battle of Minas Tirith that I was feeling nauseas.

_Rain poured, lighting thundered. The troops looked extremely demoralized. I could see why. Everything seemed to be going against them. The automatons had been activated, but not by our forces. They were attacking Manhattan. Prometheus and Annabeth surveyed the city, directing monsters to where our forces were weakest. Iapetus and Hyperion lazily blasted huge holes in buildings and laughed as they crashed to the ground, giving each other a high-five as the debris nearly flattened a squadron of demigods. Kronos himself walked among the city, idly taking chunks out of anything that stood in his way by simply flicking his fingers. As I watched, another Titan lumbered into the borders of the city, with big ram horns. He led another new group of monsters, stained with blood, the blood of demigods._

_Kronos laughed. "Krios my friend, I'm so glad that you could make it to our party! Did the Romans give you much trouble?" _

_Krios grimaced. "They nearly destroyed our base. I fought two of them myself, hand to hand. The battle would have lost if not for that fresh group of monsters you sent me."_

_Kronos guffawed, "Well, what remains of their camp now?" _

_Krios grinned, "Nothing but rubble, and burning rubbles, mind you. I squashed that statue of that stupid border god and took extreme pleasure in burning the temples."_

_Kronos clapped his hands. "Excellent. Your timing couldn't have been any better. Tomorrow, we shall topple Olympus once and for all."_

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Not long after the IM flickered back into darkness, I went to the stables and mounted Blackjack. I had no idea which way I was supposed to go, but there was no time to stop and ask for directions, for every minute lost here is probably going to lead to more demigod casualty on the home front. _Maybe I should start my search in Rivendell first?_

"Boe? (Is it necessary?)" A quiet voice asked from behind me. I turned around to the voice and found Legolas casually leaning on the door frame and shooting worried glances at me. He must have seen the images as well.

"I have no choice, mellon nin. That is my home. I…if I'm going to die, I will go down fighting." I gritted my teeth. I could not afford to break down now.

"You also have a home here; Lady Galadriel said you would always be welcomed at Lothlorien." He pushed himself upright and strode towards me. "This is not your fight. It hasn't been your fight ever since you arrived here in Middle Earth."

"When did we allow evil to become stronger than us?" I said forcefully, trying my best to force down any signs of panic, but I could not deny that he was right. "We are still a part of the world, aren't we? I will go back, and you are welcome to try and stop me."

"Well, in that case, I shall come with you." He sighed, and mounted his own horse.

"I wanna come too!" Prim wailed.

I sighed and wrapped my arms around her in a warm hug. "No, Prim. I want you to stay here with mom, where you're safe. This is war, and you are too young to be a soldier." I couldn't risk letting anything happen to my little sister.

Prim pouted, "Mother has been instructing me swordplay. I'm pretty sure I can take care of myself." She pleaded and gazed at me with her big, puppy eyes. "Why can't I come too?"

Aargh, not the eyes, not the eyes, ignore the eyes…Whenever she used that look on me, I turned to mush. Not this time though. With a great effort of will, I shook my head. "No, sister, please stay here. I won't let you come. Promise me you will stay here. Gwestog (Do you promise?)?"

She frowned and shook her head firmly. I sighed. "Then I have no choice. Haldir, come here, I have a task for you." I called out.

The captain of the guard walked over to me. "Yes, my lady?"

I hardened my heart. "I need you to keep an eye on Prim, make sure she doesn't go anywhere. Can you do that?"

Haldir frowned, but nodded resolutely.

Prim's face turned sour, and she suddenly extracted herself from me and vanished into the woods. I sighed and went to Blackjack with a heavy heart, and she nuzzled me comfortingly.

"Hey Blackjack, take us to Rivendell. We're going home."

"You sure, boss? That sounds pretty dangerous."

"I'm sure."

I swung myself into the saddle, and with a whispered command, Blackjack flared her wings, and we soared into the air. As we flew over the edge of the forest, I saw Prim watching me leave with tears in her big eyes. I firmly turned my head away, ignoring my aching heart._ It's for the best. If I survive, I will come back for her, I swear it on the Styx._

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Five days later, Blackjack landed in the courtyard of Rivendell. Elrond didn't seem the least bit surprised to see me, except for the slight raising of his eyebrows. But that's elves for you. After I told him of my request, he nodded and took me back to the place where I had arrived so many months ago: a simple stone arch stood in the middle of a clearing. I tentatively put my hand between the pillars. It went through the arch and disappeared, though I could still feel it. I turned to Elrond. He gave no response except a slight nod. _Time for me to leave, then…_

I rechecked everything I had with me, and uncapped Riptide. The moment I stepped back into Manhattan, I would have to fight for my life. I took Blackjack's reins and prepared to move out.

"Wait! Katniss, Wait!" A familiar voice made my heart soar. At least I wasn't going back alone. Legolas rode a horse at a breakneck pace, straight in my direction. He stopped right before he crashed into Lord Elrond, and jumped out of the saddle. "I'm coming with you."

"Legolas… I…" _Another time that words have failed me…great…_

"Avo drasto, mellon nin."(Don't worry, my friend) he reassured me.

The smile threatened to split my cheeks in half. "Thank you, Legolas."

He gazed quite seriously into my eyes, "I said I would come with you, Lady Everdeen."

He got off his horse and swung his pack over his shoulders, unsheathing his sword as well. Together, we walked straight into the arch. Lord Elrond raised the three middle fingers to his lips and extended his arm out towards us in the elven gesture of respect and farewell. _Did Lord Elrond know of the war as well? Apparently the possibility of me dying was great enough to qualify for a "farewell" instead of "see you again soon"…which was quite unnerving, considering the fact that he had the ability to see the future and all that._

Just before I left, my ears picked up another round of galloping hooves, but before I could think much of it, I was already in a totally different place. There was no transition, no tunnel, just a step through the doorway.

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Something slammed into me hard, causing me to fall onto the hard stone tiles with a grunt of pain. I heard the lumbering footsteps of something coming towards me, so I instinctively raised Riptide and stabbed upwards. It turned out to be a cyclops. Blackjack whined and reared, sending her front hooves crashing into what I hoped was the cyclops' body parts. A cloud of golden dust drifted onto my skin, confirming the kill. I panted and hauled myself up from the ground. Where was I? Shouldn't this be somewhere in the throne room?

It was still too dark to see anything.

"Katniss? Mi van me? (Where are we?)" I heard Legolas ask.

I hurriedly held up my hand, willing it to catch fire. A small flame burned in my palm, lighting up the surroundings. This was the throne room all right, but it was nothing I had ever expected.

"This was… this was supposed to be the throne room of the gods…" I barely got out.

The entire room had been consumed by darkness, with no fire, and no warmth. The thrones were empty. The Ophiotaurus was swimming dolefully in tank by the corner as usual. At the centre, where Hestia's hearth used to be, an altar had been built, with a scythe design at the centre. Three hellhounds were guarding the altar, snarling at me.

I couldn't stand the grave silence, so I motioned for Legolas to mount Blackjack as well, and we flew down into the city without bothering to take the elevator.

No sound reached my ears. The "City that Never Sleeps" was eerily silent, even though it was already noon time. Was the battle over already? Had I been too late?

As we descended lower, more chaos met my eyes. The iris messages and dream visions had shown but a portion of the damage inflicted. The empire state building had so many chunks taken out of it, it was a wonder it was still standing. Perhaps the power of Olympus was still shielding it a little. Otherwise, New York was almost completely unrecognizable. Hundreds of buildings had been reduced to smoking heaps. Pavements were torn into shreds, exposing the pipelines underneath. Monsters patrolled the streets. Automatons marched around in perfectly-organized formations. The banner of Kronos with the Scythe flew everywhere.

And then, there was the blood. A visible layer of golden monster dust covered the streets, but it was all dyed red with the red blood of mortals, as well as demigods. Broken limbs lay scattered on the ground, some still clutching onto their weapons desperately. Dead bodies wearing orange shirts littered the ground. Most of them had chunks taken out of them; as if they were dissected by careless surgeons who forgot to sew the parts back on…I didn't want to think about it.

Behind me, Legolas took in a sharp breath. "This was your home, Katniss?"

I nearly broke down sobbing. _He was right. Was this my home?_

Suddenly, I heard some noise, or the unmistakable sound of metal clashing against each other to be exact. Someone was still fighting. Instantly, I spurred Blackjack into a dive. A few blocks away from the Empire State Building, a ragtag band of fighters had engaged a group of Cyclops and Hellhounds. They cried out defiant battle cries, but they weren't making much progress. So far, none of them had noticed me yet. I gritted my teeth and handed Legolas my bow and quiver. "Legolas, take the reins. I want you to take them out from above."

"What about you?" he asked worriedly.

I gave no answer, but jumped off as soon as Blackjack reached a reasonable height, tumbling right into the middle of the fight.

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I landed right on top of a particularly large cyclops. "FOR POSEIDON!" I screamed, plunging my blade straight through its neck with the help of my falling momentum, reducing it to dust. For a moment, all was still, with everyone stopping their respective fighting and staring at me, monsters and demigods alike. Malcolm stepped up and poked at me gently with his sword tip as if to test if I was real or just an illusion. "Katniss, is that you?" He said disbelievingly.

I tried my best to give a reassuring smile to the son of Athena. "Yup, it's me, the one and only. Now let's kick some monster butts."

The campers let out an exhausted cheer, and together, we charged the enemy. I had never felt so angry. These monsters had destroyed my home, and stole two of my best friends. Now they were trying to the rest of my family members. I was furious. Riptide was a blur of destruction in my hands. The Mist was failing. I could tell by the way that each of Legolas' arrows hit their targets dead on without hurting a single camper, but that was the least of my concerns now.

With hope renewed among the campers, they started cheering as they fought with renewed vigor, and soon the monsters started backing down. The last monster, a Scythian Dracaenae, obviously decided to make a break for it. "Legolas, shoot her!" I cried. I didn't want Kronos to get news of my return just yet.

A bronze arrow sprouted out of her back, and she dissolved into dust. I glanced up gratefully at Legolas, to find him with an arrow still poised on the bow string, a confused look on his face. What in the name of Hades just happened?

I slowly turned to the direction where the shot had come from. My mouth literally fell open. At the doorway of the Empire State Building, a lone girl stood with her bow fully drawn, and it was…

"Prim? How in the name of Hades are you here?"

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As Malcolm took us back to the Rebel base, Prim sheepishly explained herself.

Turns out, Prim had managed to give Haldir the slip using one of those enchanted arrows she had so cleverly nicked from my quiver. This particular arrow turned something into a potted plant for a few minutes. While Haldir had preoccupied as a beautiful sunflower, Prim stole a horse from the stables and galloped on Legolas' trail, coming after me mere minutes after I had stepped into the portal. Elrond, of course, had gotten a shock, but I guess nothing could stop a determined Everdeen. I didn't know whether to be proud of her or to chew her ears off. I couldn't send her back now. The Empire State Building would be more closely guarded than ever. She was stuck with us.

Malcolm took us to a small hotel. It didn't look like much from outside, but when I got in, I saw that the Hephaestus cabin had been busy: the inside walls were completely covered with celestial bronze sheets to block the scent of the demigods; a huge tunnel had been blasted out in the floor, leading to a huge underground chamber the size of a football field, held up with lots of bronze or stone supports to prevent a cave-in. I gave an impressed whistle. _Perks of having Hephaestus campers on your side…_ Legolas looked stunned into silence, while Prim let out a quiet "Whoa…"

A line of beds dominated an entire wall, with campers lying on them. Demeter and Apollo campers tended to the wounded. The whole room was divided into three sections. One, of course, was the infirmary. There were so many familiar faces lying on the beds. My heart nearly broke when I saw the form of a very familiar centaur, hunched over while an Apollo camper bandaged his flank. _Chiron…_

Another section was the armory, with Ares kids stocking up on their weapons, while the Hephaestus kids were busy melting down broken weapons and making new ones. The third and final section was covered with maps of New York, with an Iris message with a permanent connection, showing a live feed of all corners of our beloved city. Apparently in a war, Iris was willing to bend a few rules. Athena kids were busy trying to find patterns and weaknesses in the monsters defenses, consulting the maps. I sighed. With Annabeth working with the Titans, our task had become a lot harder.

"So, our 'beacon of hope' finally decided to show up, huh?" Clarisse stood up from her seat and smirked at me, though there was a ton of sadness in her posture. She was wearing a sling on her sword arm, and her pale face showed that she wasn't doing very well. Hearing this, all the survivors in the room turned their heads towards me, and I suddenly felt very self-conscious. I wanted to hide from their accusing stares; I wanted to tell them that everything is going to be ok; I wanted to be of some use to the cause. Yet the painful truth still stands out: there was nothing much I could do.

"Well? Thalia's gone now. I've been trying to step in, but I'm not made for leading people. You are supposed to be the leader here." Clarisse raised her voice and snapped her fingers before my face. "Wake up, girl. We still have some forces left, and all of us will follow you to whatever end."

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I remembered staying up all night at the underground burrows with which we call our HQ; I remembered pouring over maps and trying to figure out a battle plan, but realizing with a huff that I could never be as intelligent as Annabeth; I remembered talking to Clarisse and taking stock of our resources (which was not very great) and putting on a brave face for everyone to see.

However, no matter what I was doing, the voice of Kronos still went on and on in my head, refusing to leave me alone. _"You're just in time! Tomorrow, we topple Olympus once and for all."_ Tomorrow, it would end. I was terrified. Legolas and Prim stayed up all night with me, providing spiritual comfort. I talked with Chiron, as well as many of my old friends. _"Tomorrow, we topple Olympus once and for all." _This might be the last night I will ever get to spend with them in the world of the living.

The next morning, at first light, our lookouts informed us of three individuals in Central Park, calling for a truce. They were carrying white banners, a universal sign of peace, but once I saw who those individuals were, I almost exploded and screamed profanity at them.

That's right, you guessed it: there was Annabeth, walking side by side with a Scythian Dracaenae, together with a tall dude that looked suspiciously like a titan. I gritted my teeth so hard I could almost feel them bend.

"LET THE LEADER OF THE REBEL CAMP COME OUT. WE ARE HERE TO NEGOTIATE A TRUCE. THE LEADER MAY BRING TWO COMPANIONS, BUT THEY MUST BE UNARMED. WE WISH FOR NO MORE BLOODSHED. THIS OFFER LASTS UNTIL NOON." Annabeth called out from a distance using a megaphone.

I chose Clarisse and Malcolm, whom I have appointed as my seconds in command, and went out to meet them.

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Seeing Annabeth standing with the Titan threatened to break me completely. When she saw me, her megaphone almost dropped out of her hands. "Katniss…how are you…still here?"

I tried to glare at her, but rebellious tears were already welling up in my eyes. "Care to explain yourself, Annabeth?"

Annabeth took a step back, her chest heaving. "We thought…we thought you were…_dead_."

"Oh, Annabeth…please…tell me this isn't true. Please…"

A tear streamed down Annabeth's cheek. She held out her arm, which to my horror, had been branded with a black scythe. _She is one of theirs now. And permanently, might I add._ She started speaking again with a trembling voice. "It's for the best, Katniss. This is the best choice. You'll see…"

I bit back a retort. I couldn't. I just couldn't talk to her again without totally breaking down into a sobbing mess. Instead, I directed my gaze to the titan. "What are you here for? I hope it's to say you're giving up and giving New York back to us."

The titan chuckled. "What have the gods ever done for you, Katniss?" He then introduced himself as Prometheus, and spoke with a pleading voice: "Join us, or even better, tell the remaining demigods to join us. All we want is to crush the gods. We have no quarrel with the demigods. You had no say in your creation. We will ensure your safety after this war is over. You have fought valiantly, but in vain. I do not wish this. Every drop of demigod blood spilled is a terrible waste. What is the point of fighting? We could guarantee you an important position among our ranks. Again, I say. Our quarrel is with the gods." He took out a lump of clay, which formed itself into two colossal beings fighting. There were also many smaller humanoids running around at the foot of the two fighters, and they were stabbing at one of the colossal being valiantly. _Guess that's us. _I silently mused to myself. "But if you insist on getting underfoot, then we have no choice but to crush you like bugs." With that, the big, clay being raised its foot and stomped on all of the tiny ones, killing them instantly.

"Dude, please do me a favor and shut up. I will not waste my ears on your lies and crafty counsel." With a few quick strides, I covered the distance between me and the diplomatic group, and slapped Prometheus across the face, hard.

"How dare you!" Prometheus screeched with anger. An evil smile crossed his face. He reached into his duffel bag and took out a long, stick-like object. When he thrusted it into my hands however, the stick morphed into the familiar shape of a trident, THE trident of Poseidon. There were even faint traces of golden blood…

"Look here, godling." Prometheus seemed to smirk at my astounded expression. "You have no hope against us. The gods have been weakened severely. So weak they couldn't even guard their own items of power. I would show you the Master Bolt, but Thalia has claimed it for her own. You see Katniss? There is no hope for you. Yet, you just refused our only offer at making peace. You will regret what you have done." With that, He snatched the trident back into his hands and snapped his fingers. They vanished.

I didn't want to get back to the base, but Clarisse threw me onto her shoulders in a fireman's carry, ignoring all of my thrashing and curses and protests. _Next time I see them, I swear I will definitely drown them all in the Hudson. _

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That night was our final attack. It was Thalia's sixteenth birthday, t_he day of the prophecy_. There was no doubt which choice Thalia would make. Every camper who could fight was given two vials of Greek fire and a sword. We charged out of our base, fueled by desperation. I made Legolas promise never to let Prim out of his sight. Both of them would only fight from a distance. Clarisse and I mounted Blackjack, and we soared towards Olympus, where I knew I would find Kronos and Thalia, and maybe Annabeth too.

Blackjack continued to fly forward until we came to firm ground. All around us, Olympus lay in ruins. The narrow skywalk was crumbling. _The eternal city, now some titan's playground in which he threw tantrums._ Statues of the gods lay decapitated, melted, sizzled, some with gaping holes punched through them. The temples had been blasted to pieces. The only room still standing was the throne room, which was eerily deserted. But I could see lots of activity inside. From my position, I could see Thalia holding a knife and standing over the altar, while two monsters struggled to bring up the heavy Ophiotaurus. Kronos stood by her, smiling happily, as if he just won the top prize to the lottery.

The thrones had been completely trashed. I weighed the Greek firebomb in my hand and looked to Clarisse. She nodded. We threw our homemade grenades. They sailed in a nice arc all the way into the throne room. I had to look away. I didn't want to see my best friends turned into ash, even if it was the right thing to do.

I turned back, and saw… Kronos, Annabeth and Thalia staring straight at me, behind a black force field which Kronos had made. Ouch.

I stood up from my hiding spot defiantly. Clarisse tried to stop me, but I did not listen. "Take care of the campers for me. I will see you in Elysium." I wrapped her in a bubble of water and planted her firmly onto Blackjack. "Goodbye, Clarisse. It has been an honor to fight alongside you." I said, raised the three middle fingers of my left hand to my lips, and extended them out towards the girl and the Pegasus. She returned the gesture, despite having to wipe the streaming tears off of her face.

"Jack, take her back down, and don't let her back up." I commanded. "You could have my cabin as your stables." My faithful Pegasus looked at me sadly, but she complied, pulling a screaming and flailing Clarisse back down.

I turned back to the monsters in the throne room with pure rage burning in my heart. I was going to stop this. Kronos frowned and motioned to Thalia to hurry up. Thalia looked at me and blinked back tears, but then set her face to stone, and raised the dagger.

"No Thalia, don't…" I screamed and ran forward as fast as I could. Something barreled into me and sent me crashing to the floor. _Annabeth,_ she pinned me down firmly, putting her dagger to my throat. _I closed my eyes and waited for the final moment. Maybe it wasn't too bad to be killed by your best friend after all._

"Don't fight me, Kat! I'm sorry about this, but in time, you'll understand. I promise I won't let Kronos harm you!" She urgently whispered into my ear.

I was too late. As I lay on the floor, helpless, Thalia plunged the dagger into the Ophiotaurus, twisted the blade, and threw the blood read heart into the hearth.

A shiver ran through the entire Olympus, and then the throne room started crumbling slowly. Kronos walked out, victory written clear all over his smug features. The mountain started shaking; bits of Olympus started falling off the sides. The gods had been defeated, _the West was dying._

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Annabeth hauled me back up from the ground, and prodded me from the back with the tip of her dagger so that I would walk towards Kronos. "Well well, Katniss Everdeen. Looks like you're just in time to witness the dawn of a new age and pledge your eternal allegiance to Lord Kronos." The time titan grinned smugly.

Too weak to do anything else, I spat at his face.

He sighed. "What a pity." He raised his scythe and readied his stances to execute me.

Annabeth and Thalia suddenly ran in front of me. "Luke, NO! You promised you wouldn't hurt her!" I was confused. Were they my enemies or not?

Kronos sighed. "Yes yes. Well, I'll just take her then. She'll be put in a cell with some comforts, and you will be able to visit her. I'm sure the two of you will be able to persuade her into seeing things our way."

I spat at him again, but this time, Annabeth and Thalia made no move to defend me. _It's over then…locked in a padded cell for the rest of my life._ I dropped down my head in defeat, and Kronos reached for me.

Suddenly, he gave a cry of pain. I looked up in surprise, and saw a bronze arrow sticking out of his palm.

"Sister!" a very familiar voice caught my ear.

"Lady Everdeen!" What the hell were they doing up here? It's dangerous!

Annabeth and Thalia stepped back and drew their weapons, but then two arrows flew and hit them, turning them into two potted plants. I glanced up to see Legolas and Prim swooping down on Blackjack. Legolas had his hand extended, trying to reach me. Prim shot another arrow at Kronos, who immediately held up his hand, freezing the arrow in mid-air, which would have worked, except the arrow exploded.

Ice shot out from the arrow and encased him from head to toe. I grabbed Legolas' hand, and we shot into the sky. At my glare, he laughed. "You told me never to let Prim out of my sight. As you see, I never did." Outwardly, I groaned, yet inwardly, my heart swelled with gratitude and relief.

Down below, Kronos broke his ice coffin, and gave a roar of fury. "You may run, Katniss Everdeen, but you have lost the war. The age of the Titans has begun again!"

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The remnants of the rebel army gathered outside New York City. The city was gone now. The Empire State Building finally succumbed, and the last skyscraper fell. The Statue of Liberty was bombed repeatedly, then dragged down and rolled into the sea. All hope was gone. New York City was now a wasteland.

I did a headcount of the remaining army. I sighed. Out of the two hundred demigods that had started out from camp half blood, only fifty remained. Entire battalions of demigods…_gone_. There were only a few left from each cabin. Each gap in the lines tugged at my heart. _Too many names, too many to count…_Even Chiron was gone. Clarisse was still alive, though, along with most of the old counselors from each cabin. But there was absolutely no way for us to fight back now.

Suddenly, small rainbow appeared in front of us.

"Hello? Is this thing working? Lady Arcus?" a voice asked.

An image appeared. It warmed my heart, that some of the gods weren't gone yet. At least Iris had managed to keep the Iris message service going. Then I took a second glance at the image and did a double take. "Percy?!"

Sure enough, it was the boy I had saved back in the labyrinth, and with whom I had fought side by side in the arena. He looked a lot worse for wear, though. "Katniss?! By Jupiter, it's good to see you. Listen, we are from another group of demigods. We are Romans. It has been a secret held from us for a long time. But Lupa has finally told us about the Greeks, another group of demigods. She said that Chiron would inform you on your side. Did he?"

I was reeling from this new information. _Romans_…oh gods, I could learn something new every day. I hated to be the bearer of bad news, yet it seemed a role which I had been doing a lot lately. "Chiron is dead." I stared blankly out of the distance.

Percy bowed his head. "That is sad news." Then he raised his head again. "Katniss, how many demigods do you have left who can fight?"

I frowned. "We have fifty here, but what is the use? There is no hope left."

Percy glared at me. "Don't say that. Don't you ever say that! Where there's life, there is hope. As long as I live, I will spend every second of it fighting back at the titans, in every way I can think of. Our legion has been severely depleted, but we still number two hundred strong. We can unite, and attack one more time. The titans will never take us lying down. Besides…"A playful smirk broke his face, and he held up a jar. The jar seemed painfully familiar, from one of my many lessons.

"Hold on… isn't that..."

Percy grinned. "Yup, _the_ Pandora's Box, or _pithos,_ as the titans insisted on calling it. I nicked it when Jason and I led the army that stormed Mt. Othrys."

My heart started beating faster. "And… what's inside?"

His smirk softened into an encouraging smile. "Yes Katniss. Hope. She is still inside. She's with us. And I am _never _giving her up. No one is ever going to give her up on my watch."

Something in me which had broken some time ago seemed to harden again. A broad grin spread over my face. "You're right. We still have hope. Come to New York, and we will give Kronos a run for his money."

"That's the spirit. We'll be there in two weeks. We'll give Kronos such a headache he may eventually decide to surrender."

Grinning, I turned to the campers. "You all got that?"

I had expected to see them broken, like me. But the knowledge that all was not lost had worked wonders on them, bringing out hidden reserves of strength and determination had been found. This would be it then.

The Last Alliance

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**REVIEW OR ALONE ON THE WATER WILL BE UNHAPPY, and I will have to deal with an unhappy sister sulking. **

**Alone on the water: He makes me sound like a child. (Seethes) Trust me; I am more mature than that.**


	2. Chapter 2 The Failsafe has Failed

**Author's Notes: Hello again, it's me, alone on the water. I'm back in action now, isn't it great?**

**(Kicks Pjcrazy to the sides) Now it is my turn to speak to our readers. Don't just occupy the spotlight all by yourself!**

**And, just because I am a super nice person, and it is Remembrance Day here in Canada, and (voice drops down to a whisper) because Pjcrazy has just made his version of the last chapter way too long…here is the second update for the day! (Fake crowd applause) It is significantly shorter than the first one, but…it's probably important to the plot in a sense… so why don't you read on anyways. (Shrugs nonchalantly)**

**So, without further to say, enjoy the chapter!**

**Oh, did I forget to do the disclaimer last time? Well, here it is: I don't own the Hunger Games or Percy Jackson, or even the song 21 Guns. They belong to their respective original owners. This rule applies to all the chapters in this story. (Sobs) Sometimes I am just so poor…**

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_**Do you know what's worth fighting for, when it is not worth dying for? Does it take your breath away? And you feel yourself suffocating.**_

We were back in our base. Romans, Hunters, Amazons and Greeks stand alongside each other peacefully. Wasn't it amazing? Sure, there was this whiny little kid from the Roman side who claimed to be an augur, and he _was _annoying with his numerous cries of doom. _He claimed that his visions came from slaughtering a couple of teddy_ bears..._ though Percy and Reyna managed to shut him up just in time before his rumors actually start to shake the confidence of the entire army._

I was impressed by the Romans' organization. They were divided into legions, and lead by two praetors Percy and Reyna. They were marvelous leaders, inspiring hope and quelling fights before they could even begin. _It was nice to see Reyna again, after such a long time since Tyson, Annabeth and I found her in the sea of monsters._ She had managed to bring reinforcements too. Apparently, she hadn't been the only one to rise up the ranks quickly. Her sister, Hylla, had become Queen of the Amazons, and she had brought her entire troop of women fighters plus a huge shipment of weapons. _At least we didn't have to worry about shortages of weapons now._ We had a really happy reunion, laughing and talking of days past. But soon, we had to work. Every section of demigods sent out representatives to discuss our strategies.

And then of course, there was the jar of hope stood in the centre of the table, tempting all of us ADHD demigods. What if one of us open it by accident? After all, us demigods are known to be allergic to closed-off little boxes. _("It is a pithos!" Percy sighed exasperatedly in my head.)_

The outlook was grim. We were hopelessly, _hilariously_, outgunned.

The gods were gone now.

We were alone, without back up. We were alone, against Kronos and his mighty titan armies.

Kronos, once he had destroyed Olympus, had gathered all the worst monsters of Tartarus together and built a huge fortress at the base of the Empire State Building. As ever, the purple banner with the black scythe flew prominently over the jagged structure. We had managed to ascertain there were at least five hundred monsters inside, maybe more.

That was to be our target.

Were we crazy? I most certainly agree with that comment.

But I found that Percy and I had one thing in common. We specialized in half-baked, insane plans that managed to work most of the time. Our discussion lasted late into the night. When the morning came, we briefed our troops and prepared to charge. We were about to try something that has never been heard about before.

There has never been an alliance of so many different factions. Now, it was happening. So why couldn't our "insane" plan work out?

Late that night, after most of the demigods were asleep, Percy, Reyna, Clarisse, Hylla, Phoebe and I stayed behind to discuss something. It was a long discussion about a dangerous issue, but in the end, there was reluctant agreement. Percy and I reluctantly headed towards the Vulcan and Hephaestus kids to ask them to construct something. _A failsafe which included what few tricks we had up on our sleeves._

If this failed, we would have absolutely nothing left. This was the last battle. There would be no second chances.

_But then again, we were already very desperate._

General Percy and I led the Greek and Roman army into battle. The Amazons and Hunters were to be in a separate squadron, with their leaders in charge, as they have never worked well with males. Percy carried the standard of the army, a Roman Eagle which Reyna told me he had recovered from Alaska. I carried the laurel leaf, a symbol of winners in ancient Greek. Our army of two hundred and fifty demigods massed behind us. Off to the side, two hundred Amazons and Huntresses stood at the ready. We looked at the fortress. The huge black doors opened with a giant groan, and the monsters poured out like a black river. They formed lines in front of the fortress and gave their respective roars/grunts/snorts.

We raised our weapons in preparation. Hylla talked to her faction of the army, encouraging them, and also a speech about how males will never be better than them. _(Whatever works, I guess.)_ Percy gave an inspiring speech which left the army roaring with pride and determination; it was very akin to the speech that Aragorn made back at the foot of the Black Gates. _Maybe Percy would be a good king in Middle Earth somewhere if he had the chance._ Reyna flew high on her Pegasus Scipio, rallying the army. She would also secretly prepare the failsafe. Octavian (the name of the whiny augur...seriously, who would give such a weird name to their kid?) however, burned a teddy bear and shouted omens of doom. I had the Stolls tape his mouth. Reyna managed to restrain a wide grin on her face, but Percy gave me a fist bump.

We were ready.

We charged with our weapons high. That day, our battle cry rang over the plains.

"_**FOR OLYMPUS!"**_

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_**Does the pain weigh out the pride? And you look for a place to hide. Did someone break your heart inside? You're in ruins.**_

I dodged another sword strike from a Dracaenae and plunged my sword into her belly. This was not going to plan at all. In the fray, I had gotten separated from Percy and the rest of the army.

We, that is, the leaders of each camp, had agreed to make for the fortress if separated. That's what I was trying to do now. But the monsters had been much more than we originally expected. We were being held back. Demigod blood and monster dust had already been flowing on the battlefield._ No, I cannot afford to fail now. The failsafe must not be used. Not if we had other options._

I swung my sword through the head of a cyclops, (don't ask me how I jumped that high, but hey, adrenaline rush can make you do anything, right?) saving Katie Gardner from being disemboweled. She thanked me, and then ran back into the fray. Vines grew wherever she trod, grabbing monsters and entangling their legs. The children of Hephaestus and Vulcan ran through the battlefield with their respective machines. I saw Jake Mason and another Vulcan kid stomping through the enemy on a bronze dragon of Camp Half Blood that Beckendorf had apparently found the year before. It seemed like the Vulcan kid could control it, because the dragon was totally torching the monster army. The Amazons wielded several exclusive weapons as they ran through the battlefield. I saw an automatic-reloading crossbow and some pretty cool electric swords. The Apollo kids and the huntresses rained arrows expertly on the monsters. Legolas and Prim were among their ranks.

Lightning flashed. Jason, a son of Jupiter and general of the Roman army, blasted monsters back with his Zeus powers. He reminded me so much of Thalia that I actually felt sad. I caught a glimpse of Percy for a second or two. He was a terror, tearing up the ranks of the army, his sword spinning like a hurricane. And finally, Clarisse's body was glowing red with the blessing of Ares, allowing her to plow through the field of monsters fiercely. Nico and Bianca also joined the fight, for they were calling up armies from the world of the dead: zombies and skeleton warriors that literally "cannot be killed".

But the monsters were fighting back too. The titans Hyperion and Iapetus just stood on the battlements of the fortress, not even bothering to come down, firing energy from their fingers unto the battlefield. They didn't even seem to care they were hitting their own army as well.

Finally, I squeezed my way to the door of our destination. Nobody else seems to have reached there yet, so I decided to enter the premises and do some damage according to plan.

Suddenly, I stopped cold. There was Thalia, standing resolutely with the Master Bolt in hand, sizzling and ready to fire. When she saw me, her eyes widened, and she nearly dropped the bolt.

"Thals-please, don't do this." I pleaded with her. "Drop the Bolt and come back. We can start our old lives again. We can be _friends_…"

Thalia's eyes hardened at the words "old lives", but she pulled out her trusty spear and shield. She did not want to zap me into a million pieces after all.

"It's too late to stop this now." She said remorsefully.

"No it isn't." I lowered my sword and stepped up to Thalia. "We can fix this, together. We are the children of the Big Three. We can do this." I said, "Camp Half-blood is your home, not here. Not on the battlefield."

Thalia sniffled and wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. I returned the gesture and squeezed her shoulders in reassurance. Then her body began to glow white, and sent a powerful current of electricity straight towards my chest.

I wasn't prepared for this sudden attack, so I miserably fell to the ground into a pile of convulsing flesh. I heard Thalia's soothing voice drift into my ears: "I am sorry, Katniss. I really am. Please, I do hope that you will forgive me in time…"

I knew she could have easily killed me if she wanted to, yet she chose not to do so. _She did care for me, until the end._

_Maybe my best friend isn't completely lost yet, _I thought to myself as darkness enveloped me once again.

_**One, 21 guns; lay down your arms, give up the fight. One, 21 guns; Throw up your arms into the sky, you and I.**_

I had failed, my friends. I'm sorry. It is all up to you now.

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_**When you are at the end of the road; and you lost all sense of control. And your thoughts have taken their toll, and your mind breaks the spirit of your soul. Your faith walks on broken glass, and the hangover doesn't pass. Nothing is ever built to last, you are in ruins.**_

I woke up to the sound of the sea. I was on a beach. My hand was in the surf, with the tide lapping at my fingers.

I cracked my eyes open. I was in Prim's lap. She was cradling my head. Some distance away, Legolas was cooking fish over a fire.

"W…what happened?" I coughed. "Did we win?"

Prim sighed. "No…"

I closed my eyes. The war was lost. The titans have finally, completely won. And as for the rest of our army….Kronos wasn't one to show mercy. Maybe it was for the best to hope that they all died in the war. At least it would be a lot better than to suffer eternity inside a dungeon somewhere, being tortured by Kronos' minions.

"T…the failsafe, did it work?" I asked, opening my eyes again.

Prim choked down a sob. "Percy authorized it. The girl with the spiky hair had started to use the Master Bolt. Percy recognized it, and called for the failsafe."

I squeezed my eyes shut. The failsafe…all the Greek Fire we had left, packed into a missile shell very much like a nuclear bomb, designed by the Vulcan and Hephaestus cabin in conjunction. There were even bits of celestial bronze and imperial gold shrapnel inside to increase its maximum effectiveness. It was the equivalent of a nuclear bomb in the US army. It would kill a heck lot of monsters… and demigods as well.

"Did it work?" I asked in a quavering voice.

Prim started sobbing, so Legolas walked over. "No." He said simply, knowing full well that no amount of adjectives and explanations could hide the blunt truth. That single word crushed me completely. "There was a force field." Prim stated, and slowly drew out a breath to calm herself.

Kronos had won. The demigods and the gods were gone. My friends were all dead. I didn't know if there was anything left worth living for.

"How did you survive? How…did _I _survive?" My voice was laced with pain.

"When Percy authorized the failsafe to be used, Reyna gave an immediate call for evacuation through these earpieces the Hephaestus cabin made. As we were the farthest from the fighting, we ran as far as we could. We saw the resulting explosion. It was like a mushroom. When we went back, the sand had been turned to a thick layer of glass, preserving all the dead." at my hopeful glance, he sighed. "We don't know if anybody else made it out. I do not know, but I do not hold out much hope.

"What about me?"

"We found you right inside the fortress, in a tank of water. The water had almost all turned to steam, but you were inside, still alive. Someone had dunked you into that tank and moved you into the radius of the force field, but hidden from plain sight." Legolas continued.

I couldn't believe it. Someone from the castle had saved me, and kept me safe from Kronos. It wasn't hard to guess who. There were two people who still cared for me on the enemy side. I didn't know whether to be grateful or to hate them.

I couldn't hold out much longer, so I broke down and cried. Prim latched herself onto me, sobbing along. Legolas was the only one that was still standing; he was the only one strong enough to stay dry. Guess that was one of the reasons why I enjoyed having him company wherever I go.

On the beach in the middle of nowhere, we mourned the failure of the Last Alliance and the deaths of all the demigods. We mourned the death of our age, and the beginning of a new one, one that none of us liked.

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_**Did you try to live on your own, when you burned down the house and home? Did you stand too close to the fire, like a liar looking for forgiveness from a stone? When it is time to live and let die, and you can't get another try. Something inside this heart has died, you are in ruins.**_

A new country was rebuilt from the ashes. Kronos named it Panem (Only a fool would name his country after bread). He (and probably Annabeth) divided the place into fourteen districts. The first twelve were for workers, each district for workers with a specific skill set, descending from one to twelve in terms of living standards and wealth. There was a district to produce wood, another to produce electronics, and another for fishing. And there was also a new generation of genetically-bred police forces with perfectly-built bodies and extremely modernized weapons, and those strange men were ironically named "The Peacekeepers". _In my opinion, those weapons are more likely to induce violence than to protect peace._

Manhattan and some of its surrounding areas were renamed to District thirteen, a large piece of empty land right next to the borders of Panem. The bodies of the war heroes were never retrieved from where they fell. Kronos kept their bodies preserved in plain daylight to spread the fear amongst our hearts. "The leaders of your armies were killed, so you have no hope against us." They would so proudly announce. _I always wanted to know who survived the war, but I just couldn't bring myself to visit District 13 and see for myself. The blank eyes and pale bodies of those who died have done nothing to alleviate my pain._

At the very center of Panem was the last district, a new city called the Capitol, where all the rich and privileged (cough*titans*cough) lived, including the "Grand Lord Luke" and the _Ladies_ Thalia and Annabeth.

Of course there were still mortals that existed in this new world, but their eyes are so heavily affected by the Mist that they probably have no idea what has happened to the land once called America.

_**One, 21 guns; lay down your arms, give up the fight. One, 21 guns; Throw up your arms into the sky, you and I.**_

Legolas, Prim and I settled down in District 12, the poorest of the districts. We lay low among the mortals, not desiring to draw any attention to our existence. Our district was poorest in the entire country, and everyone who lived here were thin, dirty, and malnourished. Legolas and I hunted, traded in the local black markets for some extra money and food, and our skill allowed us to become one of the few houses in the district who could actually go to bed at night with a full stomach. It was good, almost too good to be true, and that was usually the omen for something bad on the horizon, like this national announcement that we caught on the radio:

_From the Treaty of the Treason:_

_In penance for their defiance,_

_Every year, each district shall offer up_

_a male and female between the ages of_

_12 and 18 at a public "reaping"._

_These tributes shall be delivered_

_To the custody of The Capitol._

_And then transferred to a public arena_

_Where they will fight to the death,_

_Until a lone victor remains._

_Henceforth and forevermore,_

_This pageant shall be known as_

_The Hunger Games._

This was directed at us. I knew it. This was Kronos' personal, creative way to get back at us, and maybe the few survivors that are out there: our public execution in front of the whole country, on live TV. _There is no escape for us this time._

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